The Test
by obsidians
Summary: A drunken night leads to a Reno and Elena having to possibly face the consequences of what occurred. Thought I might see where I could go with this :)
1. Chapter 1

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Reno and Elena sat side by side on his couch. "I can't stand the suspense any longer. I have to know, I'm going in" she said feeling as jumpy as a virgin at a prison rodeo, but the virgin part she would never be again because of the man sitting beside her.

His hand on her shoulder pressed her back, "just wait another minute" he said reading the clear blue pregnancy test box, not believing how important a woman's urine suddenly was. That a stupid test could change two people lives, bind them together with inescapable chains.

"Come here" he said putting his arm around her.

"I don't think we should" she said though allowed him to embrace her.

"You have to relax. It's not like this in the middle ages, you don't have to worry about loss of reputation. I'll support you in any decision you make and promise to make a good father to our child if you're pregnant.

"I don't qualify to wear white anymore" she said.

"I'm not a fan of white anyway" he commented.

"You mean you would be willing to..." she said unable to finish the sentence.

"Of course, we're both in this together. That's if you're willing to. Your sister would have kicked my ass if I didn't at least offer" he said and both looked at each other and then awkwardly away.

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It had happened one night at a weapons convention that some of the TURKS had chose to attend as it was paid for by Shinra. The boys decided to hit the bar after checking in and Rude and Reno had opted to join them.

While Elena decided she would use the time to seduce Tseng for once and for all.

Reno himself rid himself of his customary goggles. He thought of attempting to slick down his hair but decided it wasn't worth the effort, there wasn't enough gel, mousse or hairspray in the world to tame his unruly crimson cowlicks for more than an hour. So instead he combed it and made sure his rattail was properly centered. Other than making sure his face was clean, sniffing his pits to ensure he didn't have BO and checking there were no stains on his uniform; he made no effort to get ready. He wasn't that vain about his looks, you either liked how he looked or not and a lot of women did. He brushed his teeth to give a nod to hygiene and put his room key and wallet into his jacket pocket and left. His main objective for coming to this was to get laid. It had been so long that he was pretty sure his blue balls had turned purple by now.

Meanwhile Elena had a bubble bath with Epsom salts to make her skin especially soft to the touch and paid a little extra attention to her lady parts, pretending it was Tseng's fingers touching her. Feeling rather aroused she slipped into the sheer black panties and pulled the black dress over her head. It was low backed with a round neckline that showed just the right amount of cleavage and had a short skaters skirt. Her firm bust line made it unnecessary for her to wear a bra and this made her feel rather daring. Her short hair she styled back and fastened the fringes with a jeweled barrette. Finally she slipped into her high heels that she had to force herself to learn to walk in, thinking the added height might make the tall man feel more comfortable. She dabbed on a sample bottle of a very expensive of perfume she had received in the mail and departed carrying just a clutch purse with her compact and room key. She too had decided to join the boys in the bar but was fashionably late.

Tseng watched and sighed while his "finest" indulged in stupid juvenile drinking games while he himself savoured a single glass of white wine. He didn't like how out of control his subordinates got while released from their duties and often wished Shinra wouldn't offer to pay for events like this. However, he knew they all worked the same stressful job as he himself did that left little time for a social life so couldn't blame them for wanting to blow off a little stream. They got a little rowdy but never did anything too crazy. The worst that would happen is there would be hangovers and fleeting vacation romances happening with them. He sighed as he watched a progressively drunken Reno hit on every woman there and struck out each time between him being challenged to shot contests.

Tseng looked up with interest as a beautiful blonde woman wearing a form fitting dress walked in. Her dress was certainly wearing an excellent figure.

"I'd tap that" Reno slurred with a leer that caused her to blush and glare at him through narrowed eyes.

"Director" she said.

"Elena?" he said in shock, normally she looked like someone's cute baby sister, which she was.

"I thought I would dress up seeing how we're having a bit of a vacation and all" she said. "Perhaps I can join you?" she asked him.

"You can have my seat. I'm waiting for someone" he said.

"Oh?" Elena said in a disappointed voice.

"I met the head of police here last year and hoped we would reconnect" Tseng explained.

"It's great to see new acquaintances" she said picturing someone male, bald and fat in this role. "Perhaps you would like to meet me for breakfast tomorrow?" she suggested.

"I don't really know when I'm going to be getting in" he said and she could have sworn he was blushing. "Hannah" Tseng said in greeting to a young woman with pale skin and midnight hair that hung down to her knees. She had a face like an naughty angel and plush lips that promoted thoughts of sin. A silk dress clung to the lush curves of her body and skimmed along a tiny waist, the slit in her long skirt showing long, toned legs. Elena could feel her face turn red, feeling like an over dressed school girl compared to the alpha female.

"Tseng" Hannah said in a hungry voice.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked her.

"Sure, I hope you packed your overnight bag" she teased him.

"This is my subordinate, Elena" he said his eyes never leaving Hannah's.

"Pleased to meet you" she said.

"Stay away from me" a woman cried, slapping a slurring Reno across the face and causing Reno to stagger and almost fall down.

"Elena please take Reno to his room" Tseng ordered her before leaving with the beautiful brunette on one arm. Elena sighed impatiently and went and grabbed the wandering menace.

"Come on you idiot" Elena all but growled as she draped one of his arms over her shoulder and hugged him around his waist, helping him to walk as he stumbled along with her comically as the six foot man was led by the barely five foot female.

She sighed mournfully when she got to his room and had to lean him against the wall while searching his pockets until she found his room key and scanned it. As soon as she got in, she threw him unceremoniously on the bed.

How was it possible this buffoon was her superior? He always dressed like he just rolled out of bed and his hair was a hairdresser's nightmare. Had he ever even heard of dry cleaning? Okay to see him in action, he was obviously very skilled certainly he had bested her every time they sparred and her own skill level wasn't inconsiderable. But when not working, he was almost goofy and an embarrassment to their proud outfit. He seemed to be only interested in chasing women though he appeared to be closed mouthed about his conquests, at least he didn't spread that knowledge around the office. If he told this information to Rude, he wasn't spreading it either. He was a known flirt and was always hitting on the new girls but somehow had never bothered with Elena.

"Way to ruin my night" she said to Tseng really, going to leave and noticed Reno seemed to be sleeping, she went back and rolled him onto his side so he wouldn't drown in his own vomit. Then thought she had better help him out of his uniform in case he did because she doubted he had another with him. So undoing the zipper on his wrinkled suit jacket, she wrestled him out of it and draped it over a chair and did the same with his shirt. With his pants, she undid his belt, button and zipper and maneuvered them down his long legs and draped them over the chair. His socks were next and then she couldn't help examining him, what his baggy clothes normally concealed was a lot more impressive then she would have guessed as she took in slim but wide shoulders, well defined pecs that rippled down to well ripped abs cradled by his Adonis belt and slim but well muscled arms and legs. He wore only his boxer shorts.

She glanced away, of course he would look like that. Their job demanded they all be at top physical shape and he was no exception. Their bodies were well honed through rigorous training that rivaled any military training and their skill levels had to be maintained as well as their bodies; their lives depended on it.

She went to leave and then stopped again, her motherly tendencies demanding she cover him up in case he was cold. "There you idiot, sleep it off" she gruffly said as she rolled him onto his side once more and tucked the blankets around him. She was about to leave when she spotted his mini bar and decided he more than owed her a drink. What Tseng could be doing to that woman made Elena want to scream at the mere thought. She wasn't one to drinking to the excess but downed two airplane bottles of vodka like they were nothing. She gagged at the horrid taste and decided to experiment with other types of alcohol and started to mix them up until she was drunk as a skunk. Her head was reeling and the closest thing to her was the bed. She decided to lie down for a few minutes even with Reno in the bed. He was dead to the world and not a rapist by all accounts.

Reno awoke and felt more than saw the softly rounded feminine figure lying beside him as Elena had thoughtfully turned most of the lights off. Still befuddled by alcohol, his hands explored the contours of her body and in Elena's drunken dreams, it was Tseng who first caressed her through the thin fabric of her dress, molding and shaping her sensitive breasts, stomach, hips and thighs before finding her straps and pulling them down so that her breasts sprung free. He caressed them and her nipples stirred to hard points by first fingers and then a hot mouth joined them to nurse on her.

Her dress he pushed down, assisted by her own writhing body until it slipped free of her.

Long slim fingers gave her panties the same treatment so that they could tease and excite her until her moans filled the room as those fingers now danced inside her as she bucked against them, seeking relief from the fire he was building in her. He suckled her heaving breasts while fingering her now soaked core as her arousal spiked even higher as each flick of his fingertips stuck something inside her that confused and excited her. She cried out in protest as everything suddenly ceased and "Tseng" crawled in between her well spread legs to enter her. Reno placed his hands on the bed for more leverage and his hips surged forward but he frowned to be blocked by something. Withdrawing himself, with a quick lunge of his hips he was buried to the hilt inside her.

Elena's active lifestyle had rendered her hymen almost non-existent so it all that heralded the loss of Elena's virginity was a couple drops of blood and a pained moan from the girl as it was surrendered. However what little pain that remained soon turned to glorious pleasure as the conquering member moved deep and insistently within her in a compelling rhythm and her own hips soon echoed it, her body screaming her fierce need for release. She clung to the body moving on her own, her breasts were squashed against hard masculine skin as her insides were plundered the first time by a hard member. Her body seemed to get tighter and tighter, like a coil wound too tight until two things happened at once: the world seem to shimmer around her and fall apart at the same time and she cried out at the unfamiliar sensation as the movements inside her grew erratic. It seemed to swell even harder and then there was a hot burst in her that seem to fill her insides completely. He collapsed beside her and drew her into his arms, covering them both with the blankets.

Elena woke up wondering aching slightly in her womanly parts and smiled at her wonderful dream of she and Tseng making love. It had felt so real! He had been so tender but took her assertively just as she imagined. Then she realized she was naked in someone's arms, she carefully turned clutching the blanket around her and encountered Reno's face and screamed blood murder.

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"It has to be ready by now" Elena said.

"Just give it thirty more seconds. It's okay you don't have to face this alone. I'm here" he said rubbing her shoulders and arms where goose bumps had formed. "You're cold" he said taking up a blanket and draping it around them both, pulling her against him to share his body warmth.

"You would offer to marry me because you knew my sister?" she asked him.

"No because I like you and am attracted to you and don't believe in having children born outside of wedlock. As I was born. I promised myself, if anyone ever carried my child, I would marry them" he explained to her, taking her chin to make her look at him.

"You've never hit on me, not even when I was the new girl and you hit on all of them" she said and had actually felt a little hurt at that.

"Your sister was a colleague and friend of mine. It would have cheapened her memory to chase after her baby sister. I had too much respect for her and you by extension" he explained.

"Is that timer ever going to go?" she said to changed the subject, feeling awkward at his omission. She had never ever considered him capable of having deeper emotions.

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"Huh?" the hung over Reno said startling awake.

"What did you do to me?" Elena cried.

"Do to you? What are you talking about? Oh my head. What are you doing in bed with me?" Reno asked her.

"Reno, think, last night-did we?" she said shaking him causing him to groan out loud.

"I remember going to the bar and drinking shots and then I remember having sex...Elena did we?" he asked her, looking sharply at her. Surely they couldn't have...

"Stay away from me" she said in a hysterical sounding voice and got her dress back on in record time.

"We should talk about this..." he said putting on his boxer shorts.

"No you've done enough. Stay away, I mean it" she said pointing at him and he did for the rest of the conference.

However upon returning home, there was no avoiding each other and she kept on refusing to speak with him. Until he showed up on her doorstop one night. "Get out of here" she insisted.

"Just give me a minute of your time. It's pointless for you to run from me like this. We had sex, so what? We're not the first people who got drunk and fucked" he said and she flinched.

"It was my first time" she said and burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know" he said pulling her into his arms and she let him and he took her inside and held her while she cried, knowing that simply saying sorry wasn't enough but it was all he could offer her besides a shoulder to cry on.

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"Reno, we have to talk" she said coming into his office after everyone had gone for the day.

"Sure what about?" he asked her, they had made peace about their sexual encounter and never mentioned it.

"I'm late" she said and he could feel himself going pale at what she meant.

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He had gone to a drugstore and bought a double pack of pregnancy tests and a large bottle of Sunny D and drove her to his place.

"I don't know if I can do this with you in the other room" she called to him. He sat on the couch before the half empty bottle feeling overwhelmed but knowing he couldn't show it. He had to be strong for her.

"Just think about rivers and ponds, fountains and waterfalls" he suggested.

"Still nothing" she called.

"Then let me have a turn, all that thinking about water made me have to go" he called to her.

She walked around his condo wearing the borrowed t-shirt that he suggested might make her more comfortable. On her petite body it was practically a dress and certainly modest enough. His place was nice enough but just functional and not a home she noticed. The walls were painted on with white primer and the furniture cheap and functional and revealed nothing of his personality but that he wasn't much of a housekeeper.

"Have another glass" he suggested handing it to her and she forced more of the orange liquid into her.

"I feel like I'm going to burst but am too nervous. My nerves are all in a tangle" she said taking a calming breath.

"We're going to get through this together" he promised her, taking her hand and finally she was able to take the test.

"What if it's positive?" she said.

"We have to do logical steps, we'll go to the clinic tomorrow and get a proper doctor's test done and take it from there" he said taking her hand again while both pairs of eyes watch the timer tick down with what seemed to be infinite slowness. "Then we shall decide on a course of action if it is positive as well."

"I don't love you" she said.

"If and _only_ if it's positive would we marry, it would be a marriage on paper until we get comfortable with each other. But I suggest we await the test results before you go unpacking your mother's wedding gown" he said giving her reassuring smile.

"How did you know I wanted to marry in my mother's wedding gown?" she asked him.

"Probably just something you told me that my weird brain retained" he replied.

"It's time" she said and ran into the washroom to retrieve the tests and he hoped she couldn't hear how his heart beat in triple time. Yet he had meant every word he had said. Say what you would about him, he was a man of honour who would never break a promise.

"I can't look" she said handing him the tray. He solemnly took it.

"They're both negative" he assured her.

She was quiet on the way home feeling relieved, but sad at the same time. She knew most TURKS retired when they went to the morgue and had known that when she joined them. She knew the most relationships didn't last due to the long hours and last minute missions, losing the trust of loved ones because you could never really say where you worked or what you did. That marriages to TURKS almost never took place and most died alone and unmourned due their alienation from friends of loved ones. That to be a TURK meant you never procreated or created liabilities that could be used against you but a part of her had hoped the test would be positive, even if the man was the wrong one. To die without issue weighted more and more on her mind with each passing year.

"Thanks for the support, I guess I'll see you tomorrow" she said before getting out of Reno's car. "Great news about the pregnancy test" she enthused.

"Yes it's all for the best. We really dodged a bullet. It's such a relief off my mind" he replied when his thoughts spun in the same direction hers had.


	2. Chapter 2

Reno sensed that Elena wanted little to do with him after their pregnancy scare and gave her her space after all, he owed her that much. After all there is no real way to apologize about taking someone's virginity in a drunken state; certainly there were no Hallmark cards to that effect. Yet he felt the need to keep tabs on her as if curious what she was doing during her private time.

She kept a professional distance from him to the point of giving him the cold shoulder, not that they had been that close in the first place. Considering they had worked together for years, they hardly knew each other in a personal level.

She never seemed to fit in with the rest of them and never seemed to want to join the rest of the TURKS for drinks at Seventh Heaven as was their custom on a Friday night. In fact she had taken to leaving early on Friday and that got Reno curious. It was funny, before their encounter, she had hardly been on his radar, he had saw her as attractive but off limits and she obviously had a thing for Tseng. She hadn't expressed an interest in Reno except as a colleague and he was fine with that, there were plenty of women who did like him. However, since their encounter he couldn't stop thinking about how sexually responsive she was; he'd always assumed she was frigid.

Tseng announced their Friday meeting was over and Elena picked up her purse to leave. "Yo, Elena you coming to Seventh Heaven?" questioned a voice and she looked up to see Reno leaning in the doorway of her office.

"Thanks I'll pass" she said looking away from him and blushing.

"You've got to get past this; what happened between us" he said to her, purposefully closing the door, trapping her inside with him.

"Reno it's only been a couple of weeks since...you know" she replied.

"Since you almost became my barefoot and pregnant bride?" he reminded her crossing his arms and staring down at her.

"It never would have come to that" she hotly protested. "I'm certainly not attracted to you, you're not at all my type."

"That's a nice thing to say about your first man" he said and she stood up defiantly and glared in challenge at him.

"So what you're trying to blackmail me now?" she demanded. "What do you want?"

"I'm attempting to do no such thing. Do you honestly think I'm so hard up I have to blackmail a woman into fucking me?" he said clearly offended.

She flinched at this "who have you told?" she asked him in a small voice.

"No one, a gentlemen doesn't kiss and tell. Everyone who was there that night was too drunk to remember us leaving except for Tseng who was away from the hotel with his own piece of tail. Our secret is safe between the two of us and it benefits neither of us to repeat it to anyone. I'm just saying that you have to stop acting so strange around me or people are going to start questioning your behaviour" he explained.

"I want to forget this whole thing" she said.

"Come to Seventh Heaven and have a drink with us all and act normal" he all but ordered her

"I can't I have other plans. See you Monday" she said as she scuttled past him.

"You can't avoid me forever," said standing in front of her still unopened door. "We should talk about this" he insisted.

"There's nothing to talk about, nothing happened. Out of my way" she insisted.

"Fine" he said opening the door and letting her past him.

"You ready to go?" Rude asked him.

"I think I'll give tonight a pass" Reno said and followed Elena out. He knew where she lived, they all knew where each other lived in case of emergencies and watched as the petite woman went into her apartment building. He leaned against the wall in the shadows beside some garbage bins, knowing that his bright hair made surveillance almost impossible for him. He watched as she emerged a few minutes later carrying a book and wearing a blue sweater and a black knee length skirt with black flats on her feet and he followed her into a library and down a hallway. She went into a room and he looked at the poster beside it and it said book club. So that was her secret? It seemed so lame to Reno. He lingered in the hallway listening to what was being said.

"Hi Sandra" Denise greeted her. "How are you?"

"I'm just fine, I put in a long week at the travel agency" she said.

"That sounds utterly dull" the other woman said.

"Tell me about it" Elena agreed.

"If everyone's here, we should get the meeting started" their leader called out. "Now could someone tell me what was their impressions of Fifty Shades of Grey?" she asked the room at large.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I join you?" asked a smooth voice from the doorway she turned and saw a tall, lanky redheaded man loitering there.

"I don't mind but you will probably have sit this one out if you haven't read the book, but feel free to have a seat and listen" she suggested.

Elena couldn't believe it when Reno showed up "what are you doing here?" she demanded as he had a seat beside her.

"You know him?" Denise asked Elena.

"We're pretty close...and I work with Sandra at the travel agency" he said putting a hand on her thigh and giving it a squeeze that made her blush and she fumed when he didn't remove it. "I would like to start out" he said. "Fifty Shades of Grey is a book about a young woman's sexual awaking from a sadist man. It's offensive to the BDSM community because when Christian first seduces and then initiates her into BDSM but it's not like she's given a choice" he said with scorn in his voice.

"Interesting, could you expand on tha?t" the leader requested.

"Certainly, BDSM is all about being consensual, I mean I'm not heavily into it but it's fun being tied to a bed upon occasion" he said looking at Elena and she blushed again. "He took that choice from her because of Anastasia's inexperience. I mean what if I did the same thing to Sandra? What if I used her the same way and gave her her first sexual experience, forcing her ripe, taut body to accept me and then demanding she submit to me? That seems rather unfair; don't you think?" Reno said and Elena longed to sink into the floor for the remainder of the discussion.

She left as soon as it was over without even a goodbye to anyone.

"A book club, that's your secret?" he said easily falling into step beside her.

"You have no right to spy on my life" she said.

"I was wondering why you were avoiding Seventh Heaven" he said.

"It's not that great a night for me watching you get drunk and hit on everything that moves" she said stopping short and turning to face him.

"You jealous?" he asked her facetiously.

"I joined the book club because I want a life outside of work, away from you all and you just had to enter that and ruin it for me. It's easy for all of you men being TURKS because it's mainly a male society and you all bond over that. It's different for me, I have no friends because I don't have time for them so the few I had drifted away, I haven't had a date for two years and I lost my virginity to a drunken idiot I barely know. You happy to know how miserable I am? Fuck off Reno" she said.

"Come, let's get a drink and I'll tell you about myself, the drunken idiot" he insisted.

She ordered a white wine at the tiny diner he took her took that was quite empty for a Friday night and he had a beer. "My birth name was Richard, my last name is unimportant; I never used it except for legal purposes because it's my father's name. I grew up in the slums of Midgar, just another bastard no one really wanted. I was poor and angry with a real chip on my shoulder from being bullied for not having father until I learned to fight back. I was constantly in trouble so my mother threw me out when I was sixteen and was killed by a mugger soon afterwards. I entered the military because I had not where else to go. I attracted Tseng's attention one day and he suggested I ask to be reassigned to the TURKS. I don't have any family but my grandmother who helped raise me. As for it being harder on you for being a female TURK. It's just as hard for us as well, I used to have a girlfriend when I joined up but she left me because I was never home because of my training. I used to try have conventional relationships but they would leave me out of frustration of never knowing what my job was or when I would be home. I've used so many fake names with women and invented so many lies about myself that I can barely keep track of who I actually am anymore. The only real friends I have are the TURKS because at least I can be myself with them and even then it an invented life. I had no problem giving up my original life, it was a crappy one. You complain about feeling lonely when I've been a TURK a lot longer than you. If I drink to the excess and pick up woman it's because I need to have some fun and want affection just like anyone else. Now do I sound like I'm being an idiot?" he asked her and she actually felt sorry for him.

"I didn't know, you always act like life is a joke" she said feeling overwhelmed.

"It's better to laugh then cry" he said looking solemn. "If you're done, I'll walk you home. I know that you can easily defend yourself but seeing you dressed like a tiny, defenseless female makes me want to protect you" he said putting some money on the table.

"Defenseless? I'm not defenseless" she sputtered with anger. "Fuck off Reno."

"Fine I'll protect potential rapists from you" he said easily catching up to her with his long strides.

"You know I was attempting to seduce Tseng that night" she snapped at him.

"Tseng has his own arrangements with women like we all do and he likes tall brunettes" Reno said with pity in his voice.

"He's twice the man you will ever be" she insisted with her fists clenched.

A man stepped out of any alleyway holding a knife "give me your wallet and purse and no one will get h..." he said and slumped insensibly down to the sidewalk when Elena punched him out.

"Shut up we're trying to have a private conversation here" she raged at him.

"Nicely done" he observed as the bickering couple stepped over him.

"That your first was me, was it so terrible?" he asked her, taking her tiny wrist to halt her progress.

"It wasn't meant to be you. That night was...weird, I thought it was a dream and that you were Tseng. I know you didn't rape me, you were drunk and I got myself drunk and you were just reacting to having a woman in bed with you. You have to understand I've never even kissed and man and now..." she said and then she was pushed against a wall and lips settled over her own and she was so surprised she responded by kissing him back. His arms went around her slight but curvy body, pulling her against him as they kiss. It was her head that pulled back first and she touched her lips in shock.

"There now you've been kissed. You only will be lonely if you choose to be. The TURKS are your family now as much as your father or your deceased sister ever were. Now let's get you home. I'll see you to your front door go no further inside, you have my word as a gentlemen" he said leading her home with his hand in hers and this confused her. He smiled down at her and she was actually forced to admit he was far more good looking then she had given him credit for.


	3. Chapter 3

Elena was getting rather annoyed how Reno seemed to trying to worm his way into her personal life. She didn't get it, it's not like he was starved for company despite his scarecrow-like appearance with way he strutted around wearing his goggles even when he wasn't flying the helicopter and how he had his shirt unbuttoned just enough to show off man cleavage. She had been turned off his disheveled appearance when she had first met him and horrified to learn he was the second in commander of her but now she could see the appeal many women seemed to claim about him.

Oddly enough he seemed to be trying to befriend her and get to know her as a person.

The last time she's been on mission, she's come back exhausted and he had insisted on driving her home and she'd fallen asleep in his car. She been barely awake as he carried her to her apartment, naturally he had a key to her place. They all did because if you were to die while on duty, who do you think removed all traces that you were a member of the TURKS from your private residence?

He had placed her on her bed and fished out her nightgown, seeming to already know where it was, left so she could change and then hung up her uniform like a fussy husband so it wouldn't wrinkle (something he never bothered to do with his own) and then tucked her into bed. The last thing she remembered before drifting into well needed sleep was a large hand stroking the fringe of her hair back and a kiss on the forehead.

So that's why she decided to give him a chance and went to Seventh Heaven that night only to sit at a table with Rude while they both watched the cocky redhead get more progressively drunk with him and hit on every single woman there but Elena. She felt enraged, okay he hadn't invited her on a date or anything but surely she deserved more consideration then this? She watched him make out with a girl who was sitting on his lap while he had barely spoken two words to Elena and decided it was time for her to leave.

"Hey Elena" he slurred giving her ass a pinch, she barely remembered what she said to him before punching him out and storming off.

"What happened?" Reno asked when he sat up in Rude's van.

"You pissed Elena off and she cleaned your clock" Rude explained.

"What did I do?" he asked him.

"For one, you ignored her all night long after taking all that time convincing her to drop by. Second, you kept flirting with other women. Third, you pinched her ass after ignoring her all night long" Rude deadpanned wondering how so intelligent a man could be so dense sometimes.

"She called me something. What the hell is a village bicycle?" he asked him.

"Imagine a whole village owns one bicycle, in other word: everyone has had a ride on you but it normally applies to women. I'm sorry, but what are you trying to do with Elena? I mean if you slept with her and like her, just tell her that. By trying to prove to her how popular you are with the ladies, all you did was make yourself look like an asshole" Rude said but without judgment in his voice.

"You knew we slept together?" he sharply asked him.

"It wasn't hard to figure out, I'm the one normally dragging your drunk ass to bed and you were both awkward with each other afterwards. Don't worry your secret is safe. I'm not one to gossip" he facetiously said.

"You barely even speak" he said.

"And you speak way too much but not enough when it comes to women you actually like" Rude said to his friend and partner and Reno was uncharacteristically silent at this.

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Reno let himself into Tseng office after first politely knocking. "Sir, I have to request a leave of absence" he said to the Wutaian man, handing him the paperwork.

"Oh why is that?" Tseng said.

"It's my grandmother, she's my last living relative and it sounds like she hasn't long for this world. Her doctor requested I visit with him so decisions can be made. It could be weeks or even up to a month" Reno said, feeling his eyes sting with tears.

Tseng got up and put a hand on his second in command's shoulder. "I understand and the president shall as well. I'll have your paperwork processed by the end of the day. I'm very sorry, I know how it feels to lose family" he said to him.

"I would prefer this be kept confidential" he said. "But I shall be in Bone Village if you need to track me down."

"Of course" Tseng agreed.

00000

Elena was going on vacation and had chosen her destination how she normally did, she threw a dart at a map. She would always spend a couple days with her father and then depart for the chosen destination and take in all the local tourist attractions there as free as a song. She liked the random fun she would have by herself and would even have harmless non-sexual romantic encounters with nice young men she met. She liked to flirt a bit and was as cuddly as she looked.

Her dart destination turned out to be Bone Village and was rather disappointed her aim wasn't better so she would go to Costa Del Sol but she read up on local attractions. There were tours of the archaeological digs and plenty of museums to visit. So she decided it would be peaceful and education booked her airline ticket. At least she wouldn't see Reno while she was there, it was like he was stalking her.


End file.
